Yet another week full of big, exciting comic book debuts, landmark endings, and incredible middles. But first, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

That’s right, it’s still nearly a month away from Thanksgiving, but DC Comics is clearly priming the pump for a big Holiday season, at least based on this week’s graphic novel and trade offerings. The most notable? Lee Bermejo’s BATMAN NOEL, which mashes up Batman with A Christmas Carol, to surprisingly emotional results.

There’s also a number of stocking stuffer ready collections this week, as long as you have the world’s biggest stockings… Neil Gaiman’s ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL 5, Alan Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN OMNIBUS, and the JOE THE BARBARIAN hardcover from Grant Morrison would clearly make a great addition to any end of the year gift guide lists, wouldn’t they? Or gifts, I guess.

Don’t worry, DC isn’t ignoring the single issues, as we move into the third month of the increasingly less New 52. OMAC #3 continues to surprise as one of the most fun, battle-busting comics on the stand, while ANIMAL MAN #3 and SWAMP THING #3 bring the freaky horror. And then there’s ACTION COMICS #3, which is essential reading for anyone trying to figure out the already kind of convoluted timeline of DC’s new universe.

Uncanny X-Men #1

Marvel splits cleanly into endings and beginnings, with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #673 providing a coda to Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos’ superbly fun Spider-Island epic. Meanwhile, AVENGERS ACADEMY #21 presents a perfect starting point for new readers (as well as a killer twist); as does UNCANNY X-MEN #1, which puts the mutant powerhouses all in one book, and pitting them against a rogue Celestial. There’s also the comedian heavy SHAME ITSELF #1, which you can read our feature about, and HULK #44, which continues the Hulk of Arabia storyline, and we’ll have a Post-Game on that Thursday. So make sure you’ve boned up, okay?

Heart #1

Image also has yet another huge week, led by TV host Blair Butler’s debut comic work HEART #1, which brings mixed martial arts to comics, and is, not so surprisingly, heartfelt. INFINITE VACATION #3 takes the cake as the most f**ked up comic released this week (and there’s a new issue of CROSSED, so that’s saying something), while THE STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #2 continues to impress, LAST OF THE GREATS #2 makes things worse for our scrappy humans, and the rest of the comic book reading world gets a chance to read one of our recent favorite short stories with the reprint of OUR LOVE IS REAL.

Lastly, there’s the, well, last issue of Rick Remender’s opus with FEAR AGENT #32 from Dark Horse, which we dare you to read without a tear in your eye. Over at BOOM!, meanwhile, for the kids of all ages you’ve got PEANUTS #0 and ROGER LANGRIDGE’S SNARKED #2. Point being, everyone, let’s all go get some comics!

Peanuts #0

We’ll see you next week, but in the meantime, let us know what YOU’RE looking forward to!